Sharpen your pencils- award applications are due August 27th
MPHA is accepting applications for the following awards:

*Public Health Program of Excellence award
*Ruth Shaper Memorial award

Both of these awards are simple to apply for and you do not need to be a member to nominate either yourself, your program or someone else. The goal of these awards is to identify model programs and public health leaders in Maine and showcase their efforts. Award winners will be recognized at our Annual Meeting on October 5th in Augusta.

To download the application forms and see a list of who has received these awards in the past, go to the MPHA site.  Anyone can apply for these awards, but we can only consider programs and people WHO APPLY!  :-)  Please forward this information widely!

Safe Chemicals Act Reform- MPHA calls for action from our Senators
MPHA continues to communicate with our members of Congress on legislation and issues that are of importance to our members. Most recently, we have been in contact with Senator Collins regarding S. 3209, the Safe Chemicals Act. Similar to the Food Safety Act we have been actively advocating for, this legislation is very outdated (34 years old!) and in dire need of reform. See below an excerpt from the letters and emails MPHA has sent to Senator Collins.

We are writing now to urge you to support and strengthen S. 3209, the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, sponsored by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), in order to fix the badly broken Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. As you know, in 1976, 60,000 chemicals used in products were grandfathered in – although the vast majority of these had never been tested for human health safety. New chemicals come onto the market each year – it is now estimated that 80,000 chemicals are now commonly used in products in the United States – and we don’t even know that they’re safe. Increasingly, we are learning that many of these chemicals have been linked to health problems like diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s’ disease, cancer, learning disabilities, and reproductive disorders including infertility.

As an Association concerned with sustaining and improving the health and well-being of Mainers, we call for you to use your leadership in the Congress to support and strengthen the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010.

The Safe Chemicals Act provides the best opportunity in a generation to protect patients, families and environmental health by establishing a chemical policy in the US that protects all Mainers from harmful chemicals in our everyday environments.

APHA reminds us... 
The question is not if a disaster or public health emergency will strike, it’s when.

Pandemic flu. Infectious disease. Natural disasters. There has been no shortage of examples in the past few years to remind us how quickly you could find yourself in the middle of an emergency.

When the time comes, will you know how to handle the unexpected?

APHA reminds you that simple steps can make you safer!  Planning is the best way to safeguard yourself, family and community from the danger and disruption that a public health emergency can cause. Join us by signing the preparedness pledge! Your name will then be entered in a drawing to win a FREE emergency preparedness kit! 

For local information from the Maine Get ME Ready campaign, please visit www.getMEready.org  

MPHA… The Voice of Public Health in Maine